Obama Continues Jobs Pitch, Calls For Rebuilding Schools

President Barack Obama continued to pitch his administration’s jobs package Tuesday, this time placing a special focus on rebuilding the nation’s schools.

Speaking at Abraham Lincoln Highschool in Denver, Colorado, Obama argued that investing in the nation’s educational infrastructure will not just expand employment for construction workers, but also give the U.S. a competitive edge internationally.

“Things like science labs, for example, take money to upgrade.  And the ones here at Lincoln High were built decades ago, back in the 1960s,” Obama said. “Science and technology have changed just a little bit since then.  The world has changed since then.  We need to do everything we can to prepare our kids for it.”

The President added that the jobs bill is also the key to preventing teacher layoffs, arguing that the bill will provide “funding to save the jobs of thousands of Colorado teachers – and cops and firefighters, too.”

Obama punctuated his remarks with multiple calls for Congress to pass the jobs plan immediately.

Obama’s appearance in Colorado marks final state in the President’s 3-day swing across the western United States. Earlier this week he visited California and Washington.